Decorating cookies – Millie’s style

I saw a different form of cookie decorating last week – what would you create with soft cookie dough, piping consistency icing in 4 flavours (caramel, vanilla, chocolate and raspberry), smarties, marshmallows, glace cherries and sprinkles?? Any ideas?

I really enjoy decorating cookies, so when asked to be a ‘celebrity’ judge for the in house Millie’s Cookies ‘Ice off” competition, I thought why not, it could be interesting and informative.

I expect many of you will be familiar with Millie’s Cookies as they have shops selling their tasty freshly baked soft cookies in many shopping centres, railway stations and airports around the UK. They are also found in far-flung places such as Singapore, Cairo and Malta!

This was Millie’s Cookies’ second competition to find their ‘Creative Iced Cookie Designer of the Year’. The five finalists, each representing a region of the UK, had to create three types of decorated cookies in a 40-minute timeframe. The cookies had to be decorated using only products found in a Millie’s Cookies store. I was intrigued, these cookies would be nothing like those I bake and decorate.

The competition tasks were to ice a giant 30cm (12in) Millie’s cookie in an original but commercial way, create and decorate a wedding favour and produce a child’s product. My favourite category was the giant cookie, as the contestants had to come up with designs that were original, well presented and using only in-store products. Judging this category was very hard, there was only one point between each of the top three contestants. For me, what was interesting was the imaginative way the contestants used their limited ingredients.

Lindy